Disney Cruise, Disney World, and Universal Studios Orlando

Hi Everyone!  It's been SO ridiculously long since I last wrote a post!  If you're a mom, you know how it is.  You just get so wrapped up in all the busy stuff in your day-to-day life.  I signed up at my sons' school as a co-chair for the 2015 Fall Book Fair, I since planned two birthday parties for my daughter and my sons (which were all pretty epic, might I say - I'll write posts on those later, along with pictures!).  And, let me just go ahead and admit it...I was lazy.

However, recently I took a not-so-pretty fall off my stairs at home (ironically, as a friend of mine put it, I was walking totally fine all night the night before in my 6-inch pumps!).  So as a result?  A spring with a possible fracture.  I was on crutches for 2 days.  I can't do much of anything but sit at home and veg.  I know what you're thinking, "What?  It sounds like you're complaining that you get to veg!  What I wouldn't GIVE to have that!"  Honestly, it gets really boring after about half a day.  I literally couldn't do anything.  Crutches are needed even to the bathroom.  And I can't drink much water because, well, I don't want to pee so much!  And it's hard when I see my poor husband who worked so hard all day coming home and do my job on top of his.  I felt completely useless.  Therefore, it's not that fun!  Plus, the little bit of weight I lost previously is creeping back because I've been immobile this whole time.  Pants.Are.Tight.Again.  *sigh*

Anyhoo, so that's why I'm sitting here writing a long overdue post about our experience on the Bahamian Disney Cruise - from DECEMBER!  Forgive me as I'm not getting any younger and can't remember all of the details.  But I'll have most of the important info so you can still use my post as research!

Ok, first things first.  When you're booking a flight that requires a transfer, and you have little kids, please, I repeat, please arrive at your transfer location a day before the transfer.  We had to learn that the hard way when we went to Turks and Caicos last January.  Long story short, AA cancelled our flight last minute, right before we left our house for the airport (I've since vowed to never, ever fly them again - I mean, it was so last minute, the airport shuttle was at our front door!  Then we get a freaking voicemail for the cancellation?!  WTH?!?), we were delayed by about 3 hours, we missed our connecting flight in Florida, had to find an overnight hotel so we can fly out the next day, and of course we lost our first night in Turks and Caicos.  All in all, the extra amount of money we spent for the whole fiasco was about $2k.  AA reimbursed me with free tickets.  With expiration dates.  Classy, AA.  The whole experience would've been horrendous with just adults, however, you put two 6-year-olds and one 2-year-old in the mix, it was a complete NIGHTMARE.  So, what's the moral of this story?  Say NO to American Airlines!!!

So, since you have to board the cruise ship at a certain time, get to your destination a day earlier!  Luckily in Orlando, there is a hotel right inside the airport. I'm telling you, those people know what they're doing!  The hotel even arranges with the cruise to have your luggage brought on the ship the day of so you don't have to do it yourself.

Disney Dream
On the day of the cruise, we left our room for breakfast downstairs, and when we got back, the luggages were already picked up.  We then headed toward the shuttles that would take us to the port.  Once we checked in, we were greeted by people offering hand sanitizers left and right before you board the ship.  And there were photographers taking pictures before you board too.

We were aboard the Disney Dream.  It's one of the newer ones so we were very happy with our room and the whole ship in general.  All the crew members are incredibly friendly.  I felt like I was in another world.  If you've been on a cruise, I'm sure you know there is plenty of stuff going on everyday.  There's no way you can do it all.  I'm really into live shows, so I watched the shows every night.  Can I just tell you that, WOW!  Disney really knows how to put on a show!  They are absolutely amazing!  Talk about being equivalent to Broadway!  Even my daughter was completely engaged in the shows.  There were also character meet and greets on certain days and times.  We missed the Sophia and Jake one, but we had to attend the Princess one.

The kids club on the cruise is called the Oceaneer's Club. They have a fantastic technology where your child is assigned a wrist band; all they have to do to check in and out is hold the wrist band against a scanner.  There are hand washing stations at the entrance/exit.  A hand washing machine with two cylinders first spray water as you insert your hands, then soap, then water again.  And voila!  your hands are clean!  Towel dry, then you're done!

One of the places we docked was at Castaway Cay.  This is Disney's private Cay.  We reserved a cabana so that our children can rest inside the cabana if they got tired.  I don't know if this was a good idea.  The cabanas are way off on one side of the island.  I felt so remote from everything else.  The fun water playground was located in the middle of the cay, and it was really far away from our cabana.  We had to walk a ways to get food too.   The only good thing I can think of is, if you want that privacy and serenity, that's what you get.  Maybe for families that still have infants or children who must nap?  It just wasn't ideal for our family.  The lagoons in Castaway Cay were freezing the time of year when we were there.  But that didn't stop us from getting ourselves wet.  I think the best experience about the whole Cay was finding thousands of little hermit crabs crawling everywhere.  What we thought were just shells, were all hermit crabs!  Tiny, little, ones, millimeters long!  They were adorable and we all got a kick picking them up.  There's a rule though - no keeping anything found on the cay!  That's a rule - they want everything to remain where their natural habitat are.  Let me tell you, I totally would've taken some of those cute little things if I could.  :)

Our second stop was Atlantis.  We did a swimming with dolphins excursion there.  That was really fun.  Pictures will speak a thousand words!  These dolphins did tricks for us as well.   

All in all, it was a good experience, but I doubt I would want to do it again.  I don't have much complaints, but the one thing that is important to me was just not up to par.  Food.  Oh, the food was just...not...very...good.  I've been on another cruise with my husband when we went on our honeymoon years ago.  There are no bad memories involving food.  But this time, I was glad we only had 4 days on the cruise because I was really craving better food on land.  Sorry Disney.  

Disney World's Magic Kingdom

When we disembarked, we rented a car and headed to our next stop: The Magic Kingdom.  Disney World has 4 main theme parks: The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and The Animal Kingdom.  Disney World is huge.  I mean, HUGE.  It is the size of San Francisco.  Yup! We were only going to be there one day so we only went to one park.  The park was so crowded - I was so glad that my husband bought us the guided tour experience because there would've been no way we could've gone on more than 2 rides without it.  We got to go on one of the newest rides, the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and my daughter met Elsa, Anna, and even Ariel.

Needless to say, she was a happy camper!

However, the tour guide will exhaust you.  I mean, they want to guarantee at least 10 rides.  So you just go, go, go.  We stopped briefly for lunch, but other than that, we walked until we finally dropped.  All the kids were passed out on our way to our hotel.  

As far as going back to Disney World, I don't know if I would do that again either.  I can't speak on behalf of those people who have been to all the parks, but I didn't find the Magic Kingdom all that different from Disneyland here in So Cal.  If you have more time to spare in Florida, I do recommend spending more time in Disney World.  There are so many parks with so many experiences that you can't experience here in So Cal.

Universal Studios Orlando

Now, this is a theme park I would fly all the way to Florida again for!  Oh!  Before you read this, you must know, I'm slightly biased.  I'm a huge Harry Potter fan.  I mean, HUGE.  I love the books so much, I'm begging my boys to read the series.  Sadly, they lost interest at book 4.  *sigh*  And I don't let them watch the movies until they've finished the books.  Luckily, they watched the first 3 movies to somewhat understand what's happening in the parks.  

Oh how I LOVED Diagon Alley and Hogsmead.  I breathed in every single detail, every sight, and every experience.  From Hogsmead, where there was butterbeer, to the Hogwarts Express where there were interactive windows (and a dementor too!), to Diagon Alley where there was Gringott's and Ollivander's, everything was absolutely perfect.  The show where the wand picks the wizard was fantastic.  And after the show, you get to pick your own wand.  There are two types.  Priced differently.  There are the ones that are just wooden sticks, and another interactive type where you can "do" magic spells in front of different shops throughout World of HP.  Of course being the big fan that I am, we bought five of the interactive ones.

Now, mind you.   Dragon Alley and Hogsmead are located in two different parks.  And you need tickets to both parks in order to enter both.  Hogwarts Expres will connect you from one park to another, but you still have to purchase the tickets to both parks.   

We bought the VIP Tour package for this place too, again, we only had a day.  As my good o'hubby knew I would be devastated if I couldn't see World of HP.  It was every bit as fantastic as I imagined it would be, and then some!  I'm SO glad that they're building one here in LA!

The Owlery

Gringotts - the dragon breaths fire!

Platform 9 3/4!!!!!

Moving portraits!

The Pensieve!

Dumbledore's Office

J "performing" a magic spell

Butterbeer!

THE castle!

All the HP simulated rides are uniquely for Universal Studios Orlando.  Our tour guide told us therefore some of the actors had to film for the simulation, since they were all originals, nothing was taken from the movies.  There is also a stage in front of one of the rides; at one point (I'm sorry but I can't remember which park it was), there was a performance by the Durmstrangs and the Beauxbatons.  It was beautiful.  Everyone was in character.  I was so excited when I saw them, I almost cried.  I'm SUCH a nerd.  I know.

When you order your butterbeer, expect it to be ridiculously sweet.  Therefore, one was enough for my family of 5.  We took a few sips and had to throw it away.  It was like drinking a caramel candy.  But at least we got the experience!  There are different versions of butterbeer, you can have it as ice cream, as a slushy, or a drink.  In hindsight, we should've gotten the ice cream instead of the slushy.

Our guide told us that when Diagon Alley first opened, to stay true to the book, park employees would act dumb when people asked for directions there.  But since no one could find it, they finally just had to stop the acting.  However, they till stayed true to the characters!  For example, when we got to the train station, we were holding our wands.  So the conductor, being a Muggle, told my boys, to be careful with those "sticks," since they have no idea what wands were!  Ha!  Little things like that made me happy.  :)

Oh, of course, there were other rides like Transformers, Minion Crush, Spiderman, etc.  Yeah, yeah, who cares if each one of those simulator cars cost about a million to make?  I only care about my World of Harry Potter!  :)

Please, if you have any questions, drop me a comment below and I'd be happy to answer for you!  Until then, I think I've made up for my dry spell!  Ta ta!

xoxo,

Lin

F.R.E.E.D.O.M.

I've been waiting for this day for almost a month.  And it's finally here...it was like anticipating to go on a vacation, or waiting for a treat.  Yes.  My kids are finally all back at school.

And of course, this naturally calls for a blog post to celebrate my freedom.  Of course I love my kids. Of course I'll miss the constant noises (albeit maybe only a little bit).  But oh, any parent would understand.  Taking twin boys and one little girl anywhere is just absolute chaos.  A 15 minute trip to the grocery store will take 45 minutes.  And if I forgot to get something?  Well, forget it.  It'll have to wait until the next day.  I'm not taking 3 kids back to the market!   It's constantly going, "stop running!"  "don't push your brother!"  "stop screaming!"  "be nice to your sister!"  "I'm the mom, and I'll tell her what to do!"  "No, you can't buy that."  "No, you can't buy that either."  "Where are you guys going?"  "Don't run away w/o me!"  "STOP fighting!"  "Do you want a time-out?"  "No TV if you do xyz."  "I'm serious now!"  O.M.G.  I mean, how many times can one person repeat the above orders until your voice becomes hoarse?  Every single day this week, I go to bed almost without a voice, because I've yelled so much during the day.

Since my daughter is too young for most camps, and her school offered no summer session this year, for 3 months, I've had her joined at the hips with me.  I mean, I can't go to the bathroom w/o her calling for me, can't check my emails, can't cut my toenails, can't do anything w/o her calling, "Mama?"  Who knew that the one word I was so eager to hear, before my children could talk, would be the one word that is now driving me UP the wall?!?!  It got to the point where I just snap, "WHAT?!"  To which she'll reply, "Boo!"  Goodness gracious.  Like, seriously, WHY is summer vacation SO LONG?  When I finally get the chance to go to sleep at night, I find myself so wound up that I actually can't fall asleep.  And I literally have to check to see if I was still frowning.  Yup.  I was.  RE...LAX.

I was counting down, literally, counting down the hours yesterday.  I contemplated going to sleep earlier so I could pass the day earlier!  But seriously, 8pm would've been way too early.  When I woke this morning, I was giddy.  I mean, actually giddy.  I kept thinking of all the errands I could run w/o having 3 little bodies to herd.   I can actually stop by the florist and order flowers!  I can run to the market for milk!  I can send out emails w/o being interrupted!  Oh, the joy!

And now, this is what I'm doing.  Blogging while watching my new favorite obsession, Sherlock.  Oh, Benedict Cumbernatch, you more than qualify as a prize for finishing my 3-month-long confinement.

To all you moms (and dads) out there with children going back to school today.  Hooray!!!!  Go open up a bottle of champagne and celebrate!  We made it through the summer!  :)

Xoxo,
Lin

Fruits and Veggies Overload!

Hi There!

I was slaving in the kitchen all afternoon trying to use up the mounds and mounds of vegetables and fruits that have been accumulating in my fridge.  Chopping, blending, baking, stewing, you name it, I was doing it.   And below is a picture of the result of my culinary labor:

Clockwise from left to right: Chicken soup, fruit smoothie, guacamole, and chocolate banana muffin.

I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for creating such a well-rounded meal!   I got the appetizer, the drink, the entree, and the dessert all down.   I was pretty surprised that it turned out this way.  I started out with a bunch of leftover vegetables from various other meals I made, 4 lbs of fresh strawberries, 1 pineapple,  2 containers of OJ, at least 6 avocados from my mom's backyard that were ripening, and a few mushy bananas.  And after a little bit of brainstorming, I was able to use most of everything.

I chopped up all the vegetables and put them in the chicken soup.  I blended the avocados, added chopped onions, cilantro, salt, and lemon juice for the guacamole.  I blended the strawberries, pineapple, and OJ for the smoothie.  And last but not least, the bananas were used for the muffins.

Needless to say my family had a good meal tonight!  And my fridge is a bit less full.  Now I don't need to push past a bunch of produce to get to what I want!

Xo,
Lin

Eyeliner Trick

Happy Thursday!

I don't know about you, but if I'm going to step out of the house, or even see anyone coming in the house (other than members of my immediate family), I have to do something to my eyes.  I definitely have to use eyeliner and eyebrow filler.  Otherwise I just look like a zombie who had just risen.  Yup, that scary.

I'm always trying to find ways to make my eyes look bigger, and my short Asian eyelashes fuller.  Lucky for me, I finally found mascaras that help in extending my lashes.  And when I curl them, I lift my lashes up (gently!).  Like this:

This definitely helps, I promise.  I also recently discovered that if I put liquid eyeliner above and underneath the lash line, my eyes pop even more.

This is what I'm talking about.  After you put on your liquid eyeliner and mascara, flip the eyelids up, like this:

You see that strip of bare eyelid right above the eyeball, underneath the lash line?  That's what I'm talking about.   Line it with more liquid liner.  And it will look like this:

Makes a difference, right?  My camera phone doesn't take very good pictures.  So I apologize for having blurry images.  But it definitely does make your eyes look slightly bigger.  And here's the end result!

Ok, of course my face is not flawless like pictured above!  I definitely used a filter.  But you get the point.  ;)

Here and here are where you can find the liquid liners I use.  I use the Stila one to line my lids above the lashes, and the Lancome one to line my lids underneath the lashes.  The reason being, Stila liner is pointier, so it's more precise.  The Lancome liner draws more liquid, so it allows me to easily line my below-lashline lids.

Well, here you go.  Makeup trick of the day.  Happy experimenting!

Xoxo,
Lin

Disney's Aulani in Oahu

We love Hawaii.  I mean, we really love it.  Every year, for 10 years now, we have to visit one of the islands at least once.  Yeah, some people have yearly family reunions there, but for a family that doesn't have as much vacation days as those of our peers, at least once a year is saying a lot.

We've only been to either Maui or Oahu.  And to Maui more than Oahu.  In Maui, we've stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua and The Grand Wailea in Wailea; in Oahu, we've stayed at the Ko olina Beach Villas, and the most recent trip we were at Disney's Aulani, also in Ko olina.

The lagoons in Ko olina are open to the public.  Ko olina is like a little city on its own.  There are restaurants and convenience shops, art galleries, and souvenir shops.  There are 3 different resorts there, and this time we chose to stay at Aulani because of the kids.

Where do I even start?  There's so much to tell you!  We stayed there for a week, and everyday of that week we were busy doing something.  The water play alone...oh my.  The water play area is ginormous!  There are so many different pools, most of them only 3 feet deep so you don't have to worry too much about your kids.  I say most because there are a couple of "18 and over" pools, where we didn't try out, so I couldn't tell you how deep that one is.  There is also a lazy river, where you float around the water play area, and go under water falls.  There is a water jungle gym area where the smaller kids can play.  There is a big bucket of water in that area that sits on a higher level, and dumps water down when a bell rings.  The children LOVE it.

Small slide in the water jungle gym

There's even an area where you can go snorkeling.  No, I don't mean in the lagoon, but in middle of the resort.  Yup!  You can rent gears from the resort, and snorkel in the resort!  We didn't get to try it out, but it looked fun.

My favorite part?  The lazy river slide.  Oh, it was SO fun!  My sons took turns going down the slide with me in a double floaty.  Even I was screaming like a baby!  It's super safe too; there's a light indicator on the top with a staff member who tells you when it's safe to go.  No one bumps into each other, and you end up in a shallow pool below.  There's also another slide that doesn't require a floaty, but I was too chicken to go down that one.  :)

You can also rent kayaks, paddle boards, boogie boards, and snorkel gear to use in the lagoon as well.    My kids and my husband just want to play on the beach, so we didn't rent any of those.  Although it might have been fun to go on a kayak.  The resort itself even have life vest rentals; I've never seen that before, I thought that was pretty neat, for the little ones that can't quite swim yet.

The lagoon

Giant Connect Four at the beach

The resort offers childcare too.  Adults can drop their kids off at Aunty's Beach House and go for a massage.  Or you can reserve an activity there for the children to enjoy, like making Stitch's Space Goo.  However, just a warning...if you want to reserve any activities, you must get there early...like at 7am early.  There's a line out the door because space is limited!  But that's only for schedule activities though.  If you just want to drop the kids off for child care, that would be fine.

It is incredibly safe at Aunty's Beach House.  They give you a bracelet that you scan when your child "checks in."  And when your child leaves, they have to scan the bracelet again.   Adults who enter the facility have to sign in and out.  There are plenty of staff that watches your children.  There's a playground for them to play.  And if you want, you can purchase lunch and dinner for them too.  We only left our kids there for a couple of hours once (my husband felt bad leaving our daughter!).

Because we were there over Independence Day, we were able to watch fireworks from our room.  Whether you have a view of the fireworks or not from your room doesn't matter though.  They fire over the lagoon, so you can always watch on the beach.  From what we could see from our balcony, the beach, although open to the public, wasn't too crowded.  So everyone got a nice view.  Fireworks were accompanied by music, they even played "Let It Go."  Needless to say, my daughter was overjoyed!

Fireworks!

The food there was pretty good.  There's something for everyone.  You can do fancy, or casual.  The cocktails are great.  There's a buffet there, and they make sure allergies are taken care of, by telling you what to avoid.  There's a very casual appetizer area, where there are a couple of musicians playing the ukelele for entertainment.  I just remember the Pulled Pork Flatbread Pizza that we got at Ulu Cafe  that was really tasty.  Mmmmm!

Delicious cocktails

Speaking of food.  One day we were on our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center, we got to stop by the famous Giovanni's Shrimp Truck for lunch.  Their Shrimp Scampi was so good.  Garlicky, buttery, goodness. They give you white rice to go with the plate, and the sauce and the rice together makes for a perfect combination!

Shrimp Scampi from Giovanni's Shrimp Truck 

And as for the Polynesian Cultural Center, at first I was hesitant to go.  But after speaking to several friends about it, they all recommended that it was a great place to take kids.  There was a canoe parade where all the different polynesian cultures got to show off a little bit of their native dances.  Then we got to stop by each culture and witness what they each had to offer.  The Hawaiians did their Hula dance, the Fijians did their music, and their grass weaving.  It was really fun for the children, and would've been more fun if it wasn't so hot.  One of my sons even got on stage with the Samoan host while he made fire with just a piece of wood and a wooden stick.

At the Fijian center

C and his fish

J & K and their fish

C & J hula dancing

C "assisting" the Samoan host

I would recommend Aulani to my friends now.  The first time we went to Oahu, I didn't have as much fun.  It was mostly because I was pregnant with my daughter, and I was so nauseous in my 1st trimester.  This time we were able to enjoy it so much more since the kids are older and more self-sufficient.    This was the first trip we took as a family where we didn't have to bring any baby supplies!  It was a big deal for us not having to pack diapers and bottles!

I do have a few tips though.  I heard that Aulani is busiest in June and July.  And sure enough, we were there late June to early July, and it was packed.  Children everywhere.  If you want a lawn chair by the pools or on the beach, you have to get there early to save them!  Otherwise, you're out of luck until there's an opening.  Oahu is so hot, you really do want to find a chair with a shade.  However, I'd suggest bringing hats anyway.  Just in case.

Also, don't make the mistake I did!  Of all things to forget to bring to Hawaii, I forgot all my bathing suits.  Yup.  I brought everything you can think of for the me and like, 20 different swim suits each for the kids for the 7 day vacation, but I didn't bring a single one for myself.  So we had to drive to the closest mall, which, unless you're a teenager with teenage taste, there really wasn't much of a swim suit collection.  The "nicer" mall is about an hour away.  Oahu only has that one highway, HWY 1, and during traffic hour, it's not a nice road to drive on.  Aside from LA having the most traffic in the nation, Honolulu is #2 on that list.  So, bring your swimsuits!

You really will enjoy Aulani.  Especially your little ones.  It's fun with lots of stuff to do for everyone.  There are even fitness classes to take.  I took a TRX class one day, and that nearly killed me.  ;)  There's even spinning classes (for a fee) offered at the gym.  I may be the only crazy person who wants to exercise myself to exhaustion while on vacation.  But hey, in case you're a lunatic like me, at least you'll have options at this resort!

Our little superheroes all ready for water action!

On that note, thank you for reading!  I hope I gave you enough suggestions and tips for you to plan your next vacation at Aulani!  Click here to check out Aulani's official website to get more info.  Maybe I'll see you the next  time we go!

Xoxo,
Lin

Apple Swan

So I came across this video on YouTube the other day, and decided to try it out.  Next time you host a party, you can show off to your friends your new skill too!  It's super easy to make and looks beautiful!

Follow the tutorial on this YouTube link here.

Xoxo,
Lin

Giada de Laurentiis's Orzo Salad

Hi Y'all!

It's been a ridiculously long time since I wrote a new post.  What can I say.  The end of the school year was incredibly busy, given I was one of the Room Parents for first grade.  Then summer came around, with kids at home and vacations, there's hardly any time to breath, let alone write a post.

But here I am!  I made this salad from an episode of Giada de Laurentiis's cooking show on the Food Network.  I made it for a party and it was a pretty big hit.  It looks absolutely beautiful too, and SO easy to make.  I'd say make it for your next pool party or summer BBQ.  It's a crowd pleaser!

Here's the link to the Orzo Salad recipe.

And here's a picture of my attempt!  I'd say just use the Swanson brand chicken stock.  I wouldn't waste my money on an organic chicken stock since all we're using it for is to flavor the orzo.

My 3-year-old daughter saw this picture and her immediate reaction was, "Mmmmmmmmm!"

Enjoy!

Xoxo,
Lin

Gwen Stacy

Happy Saturday!

Ever since I watched "The Amazing Spider Man 2" with my fam bam, I have always wanted to do a post on a "Gwen Stacy" look.  I. Seriously. LOVE. Her. Wardrobe!  Every single outfit that Emma Stonw wore as Gwen in that movie is drool-worthy.  I didn't grow up with super hero comics since I don't have any brothers.  So I don't know the story at all.  When (spoiler alert!) Gwen fell to her death, I was devastated.  No more cute outfits to oodle at!  

Since I own a blue coat, I wanted to do a look that resembled that of Gwen's outfit in that fatal scene.  I found a blouse and a short skirt I already owned, threw on a pair of stockings and black boots, then voíla!

So, here's Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy (I think I have a girl-crush on her.  She's SO adorable):

And here's my version.  Of course I'm no where as cute as Emma Stone.  But given what I had in my closet, I think I did fairly well.  :)

Coat: J Crew from ages ago.  Here's a really cute one (that channels Gwen even better!) from ASOS

Top: Lush via Nordstrom

Skirt: Old from Guess.  Here's a cute one from Guess, and another one here from ASOS

Tights: Old from H&M, here's a pair that's even more Gwen

Boots: Old from Banana Republic, I'm loving these from Ted Baker via Zappos

Bag: Chanel

So the essential pieces you need for this look is actually pretty simple.  A blouse, a mini skater skirt, a pair of stockings, a pair of boots, and a long coat.  Then you've got yourself an outfit that even super heroes can't resist!  ;)

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Xoxo,

Lin

Professional But Not Uptight

Hi All!

My goodness, it's been almost about a month since I wrote the last post!  It's been too insanely busy these days.  I'm sure all of you with school-aged children can relate.  The end of the school year is almost as insane as the beginning of the school year.  All these activities and field trips.  On top of it all, you're trying to plan family vacations for the summer.  And not to mention trying to find summer camps to keep your little wild animals busy.  Ahhhh...the joy of motherhood.  ;)

I had to attend a meeting for the boys' school today.  I was one of the room parents for my sons' first grade class.  Today was our last meeting (hooray!).  I am normally a leggings and a simple sweater kind of mom.  But since it's meeting day, I thought I'd step it up a notch.  :)  You know, days like this, I DO try a little.

So here's what I put together last night before I fell asleep with a (very heavy) 3 year old resting on my stomach.  I wanted to look professional but not uptight.

Blazer: Topshop via Nordstrom

Blouse: Old from The Limited, here and here are similar ones from ASOS

Pants: Paige Denim via Nordstrom

Shoes: Kate Spade via Nordstrom

Bag: Louis Vuitton Monceau BB Cross Body Bag

I think I pulled off the look pretty well, don't you think?  I love the whole peplum look of my blazer.  I recently discovered Topshop (I know, I'm so old, how can I have only just discovered Topshop now?!), and came across this beautiful blazer.  I'd been looking for a structured white blazer for while, and this one works perfectly!  For Mother's Day, my hubby generously bought (ok, it's more like I bought it myself) the cross body bag for me.  I had been looking for one for months.  I looked at the Valentino Rockstud, the Celine ones, the Prada, Fendi, Chanel, you name it, I looked.  Then I finally came across this one and absolutely fell in love with it!  Cross body bags are so trendy right now, and I felt this burgundy-ish, eggplant-ish color works well with every outfit.  So far, I haven't been able to put it down!  It was a great investment!  Thank you, Babe!  ;)

Have a wonderful Thursday evening, everyone!  Oh!  Nordstrom is having their Anniversary Sale.  Go. Shop. NOW! 

Xoxo,

Lin

Mommy Life Hacks

So we've all seen those "Life Hacks" on Pinterest that gives you tips on how to make your life easier. I've got a few up my sleeves as well.  I must say these have helped me in one way or another.  You gotta give it to a mom of twins to figure out how to do things easier.  So...drumroll, please!

1) Tickle them awake - You know those mornings when you have to wake your kids up for school?  Maybe you don't, because your kids actually fall asleep at a decent hour.  But I have my twins in one room, and even though I put them in bed no later then 8:30pm, who knows what time they actually fall asleep.  Once I leave the room, I think they stay up and chit chat for another 30 minutes about Legos or Clash of Clans.  So naturally, they can't wake up in the mornings for school!  I used to have to yell and threaten and give time-outs.  But I finally got smart and thought I'd just tickle them until they physically get out of bed.  I mean, it's genius!  What else can make you wake up faster than loud, insane laughter?  It works SO well.  They're wide awake after a couple of minutes of incessant tickling, and I go my merry way downstairs to prepare breakfast.  No fights, no anger; everyone is happy.  :)

2)  Unloading the dishwasher - You don't need to be a mom to use this trick.  I read this somewhere but can't remember where.  We have two dishwashers at home.  But with 5 people in the house, sometimes I feel like I need 10 dishwashers.  I don't mind loading them, but it's the unloading that drives me crazy.  So now after one load of dishes are done, when I need clean ones, I just go directly to the clean dishes that are still in the dishwasher.  That way, as time goes by, there are less dishes in the dishwasher to unload, and less dishes to load into the dishwashers.  Love this tip.  Even if you have just one, or two, or even more, this trick works.

3) Kids sleep in traveling clothes - Maybe you already do this, but I recently just learned this trick from a dear friend (you know who you are).  I was telling her one day how much trouble it would be to get my kids ready in the morning to catch a 6am flight.  She told me to dress the kids in the clothes they'd be traveling in when they go to bed.  You know, just sweatpants and t-shirts and stuff.  That way, you at least eliminate one thing you need to do.  I was like, "why didn't I think of that?!"  And we've been doing that ever since.  It doesn't sound like a lot of time saved for those of you w/o children, but those of you that do have kids, you know what I mean!

4) Save plastic "kids" cups from restaurants - Those plastic "kids" cups that we get from restaurants when we order the kids meals really come in handy.  On those mornings when we're running late for school (which is like, every morning), I make the kids breakfast and take them with me, then pour their milk in those kids cups with lids, and there you go!  Breakfast in the car.  It's nice because those cups already have lids.  And it's the perfect portion for a meal.  No more having to buy sippy cups at Target, and you get to help Mother Nature by re-using those restaurant cups more than once.

5) Do a potluck picnic instead of a sit-down meal - I thought of this when the boys were still very little.  A bunch of our friends decided that we were going to go to the aquarium together with all our little ones.  And we wanted to have lunch before we went.  We were going to find a restaurant that would accommodate us all.  I suggested that it might be better if each family brought some food to share, and just have a picnic at a nearby park.  That way, the kids can eat and play at the same time, and we wouldn't be driving ourselves crazy trying to keep them in their seats, which is what we would've had to do had we been in a restaurant.  This went well, except we were late and the picnic was over by the time we got there!  Ha!

6) Go to dress rehearsals - For those of you with children who have school performances.  If the school holds dress rehearsals and the school allows parents to go to those, because they want to accommodate everyone's schedule, then GO TO THOSE.  Seriously.  It's the same as the actual performance, only with significantly LESS PEOPLE.  We just experienced that this week.  My husband couldn't go to the actual performance today, so he went to the dress rehearsal yesterday.  I went to both.  And let me tell you, there were only maybe 10 parents there at most yesterday, with plenty of parking, as opposed to today, where it was almost impossible to find parking, and a mob of people fighting to get the "best" spot so they can see their own children perform and get good pictures.  My husband got beautiful pictures yesterday of our daughter.  It's a no brainer.  Every year we're attending the dress rehearsals.

Our beautiful and silly little munchkin

That's about all I can think of right now off the top of my head.   When I think of more, of course I'll post them and share them with you.  TGIF!

xoxo,
Lin